Police in New Zealand’s Central District laid more than 450 charges against 248 people as a result of the year’s cannabis recovery operation, recovering 9,369 cannabis plants.[1][2] Officers recovered 6,053 plants in the aerial phase and a further 3,316 while executing 139 search warrants, and estimated the saving in social harm at more than $25 million.[1][2]
The district phase of the national cannabis recovery operation, codenamed Operation Penny, covered Taranaki, Ruapehu, Whanganui and Manawatu, with aerial recoveries of 1,905 plants in Taranaki, 1,137 in Ruapehu, 1,402 in Whanganui and 1,609 in Manawatu.[1][2][3] Operation Penny was the national cannabis recovery operation for the 2009-10 growing season, pairing fixed-wing spotting flights with ground search warrants.[3][4]
The largest single plot held 320 plants in Taranaki, while in Whanganui a 44-year-old man came before the courts after officers seized 248 plants, about $46,000 in cash, three rifles, a semi-automatic pistol, ammunition and a large quantity of dried cannabis.[1][2] Alongside the plants, police recovered 13,241 grams of dried cannabis, 370 seeds and 83 cannabis oil capsules, as well as 58 grams of methamphetamine, morphine tablets, firearms and 313 rounds of ammunition, which are not counted in the cannabis figures.[1][2]
Central District spokesperson Constable Dave Kirk said the district recovered fewer plants than the year before, in line with the national trend, and warned growers that police would be back the next year.[1][2]
